EDITORIALS

Christmas words throughout the years

A member of the special police force dressed in a Santa suit descends from the roof of a paediatric clinic in Ljubljana, as part of a Christmas performance for patients of the clinic, December 18, 2013.

Posted Dec. 24, 2013, at 11:07 a.m.

“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” — Matthew 2:1-2.

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“Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat, Please to put a penny in the old man’s hat; If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’penny will do, If you haven’t got a ha’penny, God bless you!” — Anonymous

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“It is the fashion, I believe, to regard Christmas as a bore of rather a gross description, and as a time when you are invited to overeat yourself, and pretend to be merry without just cause. As a matter of fact, it is one of the prettiest and most poetic institutions possible, if observed in the proper manner, and after having been more or less unpleasant to everybody for a whole year, it is a blessing to be forced on that one day to be amiable.” — M.A.B. Russell, 1900

“There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.” — Erma Bombeck

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“Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won’t make it ‘white.'” — Bing Crosby

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“There were church bells, too … in the bat-black, snow-white belfries tugged by bishops and storks. And they rang their tidings over the bandaged town, over the frozen foam of the powder and ice-cream hills, over the crackling sea. It seemed that all the churches boomed for joy under my window; and the weathercock crew for Christmas, on our fence. … Looking through my bedroom window, out into the moonlight and the unending smoke-colored snow, I could see the lights in the windows of all the other houses on our hill and hear the music rising from them up the long, steadily falling night. I turned the gas down, I got into bed.

“I said some words to the close and holy darkness, and then I slept.” — Dylan Thomas, from “A Child’s Christmas in Wales”

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“Love came down at Christmas/love all lovely, love divine/love was born at Christmas/stars and angels gave the sign.” — Christina G. Rossetti

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“But my song I troll out, for Christmas stout, The hearty, the true, and the bold; A bumper I drain, and with might and main Give three cheers for this Christmas old!” — Charles Dickens, from “The Pickwick Papers”

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“Christmas gift suggestions:

To your enemy, forgiveness.

To an opponent, tolerance.

To a friend, your heart.

To a customer, service.

To all, charity.

To every child, a good example.

To yourself, respect.”

— Oren Arnold

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“Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. If we think on these things, there will be born in us a savior and over us will shine a star sending its gleam of hope to the world.” — Calvin Coolidge, 1927

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“Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart … filled it, too, with melody that would last forever.” — Bess Streeter Aldrich, 1938